The Case of the Copycat: A Journey Through Plagiarism and of Lessons Learned by Kierra

The Case of the Copycat: A Journey Through Plagiarism and of Lessons Learned by Kierra - July 2023 Scholarship Essay

Typically, going home for spring break brings relief to students. However, relief was nowhere in sight during my 10th-grade year spring break. When I got home from school last Friday before the break, I did my routine check of my grade portal before settling into my bed. Last Friday before the break was the day grades had to be submitted, so it is safe to say I was a little on edge to see my results from the quarter.
Opening my computer, I began to open my grade portal. My heart dropped. A D stood out amongst the As on the grade roster. D? How was that even possible? I had never gotten a D in my entire life. I refreshed the page about five times to make sure it was not a glitch. Yep, the D was still there. My breath began to quicken, I started to sweat, and my mind began to race. Hyperventilating, I emailed my teacher to find the underlying cause of this.

Waiting for my teacher to reply felt like years as I paced and cried around my room. Being an all-A student, I had noticed some sort of anxiety when it comes to my grades. Specifically, the fear of losing my streak and fear of failure. I was checking my computer every 5 seconds to see her response. I could not take my mind off that D on my grade portal.

A notification popped up on my computer. Finally, a response! Reading her response, the situation started to make less and less sense. For some odd reason, my teacher said there was a case of plagiarism with my work and another student’s. Plagiarism? I had not ONCE copied another student’s work. My head started to spin from what I was being accused of. I sat down to process what I read and thought about a time I could have participated in such an action as this. Nope, could not think of a time. The email continued and said that the teacher, guidance counselor, and I would have a meeting the day we come back. For the rest of spring break, I spent bummed out over this situation. Not only was my 3-year straight A streak is gone, but my character was also being questioned and spoiled over a situation that was simply not true.

Fast forward to the day, we come back to school. Getting dressed that morning was nerve-racking. “What if they didn’t believe me” was all I could think about. I got off the bus and made my way into the school to go to the guidance counselor’s office. I was on the verge of crying again. I walk in, trying to keep myself together as they say their good mornings. The whole meeting was a blur. From what I could remember, the counselor and my teacher agreed that I was not the one who plagiarized, but someone had copied an assignment word for word unbeknownst to me. It then clicked. I had shown my friend my work to give them an example of how to do the assignment. My friend then came and copied my work and turned it in. They were able to evaluate my role in the situation by the dates on which the assignments were turned in. I was always the type to turn my work in early, while they turned theirs in at the last minute.

I was relieved to know that my grade was going to be fixed and that my character was redeemed. They both told me to be careful of who I share my work with and try to keep my assignments to myself. From that day on, I decided to stop lending my papers to others and, instead, help them the best I can by using my words. I learned to keep my work to myself to avoid another situation such as this one.